What Does 2 Samuel 21:7 Mean in the King James?
But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD’s oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A promise can keep protecting someone even after the person who made it is gone.
THE MEANING
A sworn bond still stands between David and Jonathan, and it reaches Jonathan’s son when David spares him. The oath continues to shape what power does in the present moment of the verse.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A promise ends when the person who made it is gone.
THE ROOT
שְׁבֻעַת
shevu’at
GROWS FROM
שׁבע
To swear or take an oath; the same consonants also form the word for seven.
The Hebrew noun for “oath” shares its root with the verb “swore,” making the promise an active bond rather than a mere statement. Its consonants also echo שֶׁבַע (sheva, “seven”), giving the language a link between oath and seven without changing the verse’s focus: a sworn commitment that remains binding.
ALSO GROWS
nishba: He swore; he took an oath.
נִשְׁבַּע
This verb comes from the same root as the oath David honors, connecting the spoken commitment to its continuing force.
sheva: Seven.
שֶׁבַע
The shared consonants let the word for seven echo within the word for oath, adding a sense of solemnity to the bond.
THE PATTERN
A sworn bond can outlast its makers and shape the lives of those who come after them.
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,THE THREAD
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.The word translated “sworn” comes from the same שׁבע root as “oath” in 2 Samuel 21:7. Jonathan’s words extend the promise to his seed, so the oath reaches Mephibosheth after Jonathan is gone.
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